pronker

It held my interest because the original story has peril and whimsy and beauty, so I was curious to see what Disney did. They filled the screen with intriguing scenes and glorious landscapes. The baddie was childishly bad, not "out to conquer the world" but she did bad things not to the point of murder; there's more to evil than murder, there's power grabbing without thinking of consequences. Likeable newcomers to the young heroine mold as Clara gets what she goes after, yay Clara! And I did LOL when she was pronounced a "princess" to make her fit in with Pocahontas, Ariel and the like.

Jordan and Hamilton are divorced for seven years with no apparent contact when they meet as attorneys for opposing sides of an annulment. It's telling that the Code which came into force was played a little with because the first scenes show the two pre-divorce in one bed, no twin beds pushed together scenario, but we do not see their faces during their marriage. Jordan arise and pokes her husband familiarly to rouse him; he wanders in to the bathroom in their cramped apartment, they quarrel without us seeing their faces, then the story evolves to indicate their divorce. A mother in law who interferes is present in both their divorce and the annulment case. A great deal of physicality in the Hamilton/Jordan pairing, with slaps and pushes and implied volatility in their bed. As other reviewers mentioned, Tracy and Hepburn in Adam's Rib played similar characters in a similar plot.

Jordan appears calm and collected at their reunion and they both are successful, so why do they start up old arguments again? They do not know how to be happy together, yet the film ends with them squabbling and planning to remarry. Hamilton pushes for remarriage and children after visiting Armetta, the father of the bride in the annulment case, because he gets sentimental. I don't know how their romance winds up or if it does; the story seemed pretty typical to me. I did enjoy the Liberty Films history after researching it.

Young and Bing and Rumann and Morgan make an entertaining blend of nostalgic radio show contests, Alpine hijinks, and cute enough Rich People With Hearts Of Gold. On the distaff side, Rice and Oliver play well and I liked the process shots, especially the one of the romantic Young and Rice ice skating in the moonlight on a frozen pond. Whoever designed the shot did well to make it magical.

Directed by Woody "One Take" Van Dyke, this adventure film begins with callous white trader Anderson gleefully cheating a Marquesan diver out of a sizable pearl by paying him with a tick-tocky wristwatch. The diver is tickled pink with the promise of more "riches." He returns to the deeps, where an octopus snags him down long enough to drown him before his pals drag him up. Enter Doctor Blue, who has "succumbed to despair and to drink" due to being powerless to stop exploitation. Blue slaves over the diver, but after a night of desperate attempts involving massage and raising the man's arms over and over above his head, the man succumbs.

Blue confronts Anderson, who tells him to shut up forever about "conditions." Blue snarls aw hell no (large amount of silent swearing in silent films), and when a ship drifts into the harbor containing "measles-stricken native sailors," Anderson shuttles altruistic Blue to the ship with Anderson's scurvy men crewing the lighter, only it's not measles. It's bubonic plague, the sailors are already dead, and Scurvy Crew fastens Blue to the wheel, fires the ship and hustle away to elude an oncoming storm. The storm carries the ship to a peaceful island far, far away even as it douses the fire. At this point, the film's tints of sepia and yellow for daytime and dark blue for night scenes really prove effective. I choked beside Blue in every heaving wave covering him before he wriggled out of his bonds. He steers the foundering ship to an island where he's revered as a near-god by the natives who've not seen white people before (we're not told how) when he saves the life of little drowned Napua. He's the chief's son and brother to Torres, gorgeous but taboo because she's dedicated to the gods as virgin. Napua holds his breath valiantly in his role until the little guy comes back to life in a realistic fashion. This time the massage and holding-the-arms-overhead technique works.

Her Father, The Chief lifts the taboo as Blue and Torres find happiness. Except. Pearls adorn many necks and when Blue sees them gathered from the lagoon, he leaves Torres alone a lot as he accumulates numerous lovelies to pile in heaps and heap in piles. He lights a clifftop signal fire to any passing ship to return himself to civilization with wealth and presumably Torres. "You've Changed," says Torres sadly to her love, after spying Napua reports Blue's treasure hunting to her. In a credible display of real remorse, Blue works through his greed, tells and shows his love for their life together in a touching scene as he throws his pearls off the cliff. They leave the fire burning as they retire to their hut.

Darn!

Island #1 must not have been more than a three-hour tour away, because shortly Anderson and Scurvy Crew land and the people rejoice, because he'll be nice like Doctor Blue, right? Anderson wiggles his way into the village's trust by spreading bolts of colorful cloth (the colors came out tinted well enough) and cigarettes. Blue despairs to see the White Shadow blot his paradise, slugs Anderson and Scurvy Crewman shoots Blue dead. The final scene depicts Anderson's new trading post on their island with native girls smoking cigarettes sauntering before ogling sailors, native men diving for pearls for pittances, Napua forced to work to gather coconuts and Torres, dressed in a smothering Mother Hubbard rather than her grass skirt and dainty woven bra, mourning over Blue's grave that is marked with a tiki stone.

This movie was intense. As a stand-in for the Marquesas, Tahiti of 89 years ago delivers gorgeous footage of folks en masse climbing for coconuts, luaus, fishing, pearl diving, underwater scenes of real sharks, giant clams trapping your feet to prevent surfacing for air, and octopi menacing divers (staged, natch, but the footage was nicely edited). Clyde De Vinna won an Oscar in the 2nd Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, the film was the first MGM film with a pre-recorded soundtrack, and the first to feature the MGM lion roaring at the beginning. Early sound films often are adapted plays with ensuing loads o'exposition and dialogue, but this one had no more than required intertitles and a minimum of the Arm-Waving Acting that silents displayed. It's silent with synchronized music and sound effects including cries, laughs, whistling, and one spoken word, "Hello," as Blue approaches Torres for the first time as she swims au naturel with her buds amid shrouding greenery. The score is great, though.

The message about western civilization being bad for native peoples colors the film throughout and it's hard to argue with that. One good thing happens when Napua is resuscitated due to western doctoring. A lengthy romantic Meet Cute is Blue demonstrating whistling to Torres as she's entranced by the bird-like sounds. What happens next when lips are in that position is the usual expected event. I'd seen Blue in many B-westerns as character actor, but this is the first time I'd seen him star and he impressed me as talented; nowadays it seems John Gilbert is more remembered. Reddish, blue, sepia, etc. tints the film and plain b/w is only at the beginning and end. The gorgeous poster on this site's entry is by A. Wagener.

If you like your movies loaded with supporting characters who also starred in their own films, this is the B-movie for you (it made me think of A-lister Endgame). Its poster proclaims "The Barnum and Bailey of Westerns" and the cast is a B-western movie lover's dream. It's too bad the movie crawls along and following its plot depends a whole lot on its audience having read the source of William Colt MacDonald's Three Mesquiteers series of westerns. *cough* I've read them all *cough*

At 57 and 43 and 36 respectively, actors Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson and Guinn Williams are too old to play the interested-in-romance and youthfully athletic Tucson, Stoney and Lullaby of the novels, but their other characteristics ring true and there is welcome humor. In any case, the film's focus isn't so much on Bob Steele's (Trooper Duffy in F Troop, the 'only survivor of the Alamo, unjustly forgotten because he lived') romance as it is on Carey's redemption of Sundown Saunders. Gun-for-hire Sundown (Tom Tyler, Captain Marvel in the 1941 serial) is paid by Big Bad running the town to off investigating Carey in a gunfight and balks after finding out who his upright target is, but by gosh, he's accepted payment so he's bound to go through with the killing, because Honor.

Provoked into an unwanted duel because Honor, Carey deals. His two mournful pals in tow, he trades in his doughty Colt .45s for lighter weight weapons with lighter ammo in the niftiest plot point ever. Aghast, his pals plead but no, Carey follows through and at sundown, he heads into the street. Sundown awaits, they stalk closer and closer until Carey fires first. Sundown drops like a burlap bag of potatoes and Carey cradles him to stifle fears of death. "You're not hurt bad," he says, "because I figured that since you always fight at sundown, your scheme is to let the other guy get real close in the bad light and then you blast him with your cannons."

Sundown relaxes in Carey's arms as onlookers and a doc race up. "How'd you know to get here so fast?" demands Carey of the doc, who nods toward Carey's pals. They blush and stammer that they'd asked the doc to get ready to treat Carey. At this point, I thought Carey would break the fourth wall as he did in other light-hearted films of his for a 'hmmph!' at the camera, but nope, he just offers Sundown a job at the ranch when he's recovered.

All in all, I enjoyed the movie despite a heavy lean towards exposition. Those supporting actors from studios like PRC and Puritan made me smile (Wally Wales! Art Mix! Buddy Roosevelt! Hoot Gibson, who rarely carried a gun in his film series and loved comedy!) so it was an enjoyable 1 1/5 hours of powdersmoke. Later in the decade came my favorite casting of the trio as John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, and Max Terhune. I might even have preferred Robert Livingston in the lead role rather than Wayne, but it's a close thing.

As a film fan whose dad piloted fighter bombers in the ETO, I wanted to see this movie again after we did on first release in 1970. On second viewing, a mature review is that it impressed as an evenly handled presentation of the reasons for the attack. The sense of desperation on the Japanese side as they see their superiority threatened after proclaiming "Asia for Asians" comes through well, and our American sense of 'oh it can't happen here' relaxation also shines.

We did wake up after the attack, and the film shows it happening. I say 'we' because the acting that impressed me the most wasn't MacReady's dismissal of the Japanese diplomats, although that came second: it was Neville Brand's U.S. Navy Lieutenant Kaminsky as his passionate "Do you believe me now??!!!" to his superior officer rings out. For my money, Brand displays fulminating fury better than just about any actor, whether he played good guys or bad. You can see his thoughts, see him reach the breaking point and then lashing out. So all in all, I enjoyed this movie for its depiction of the attack, for its dispassion in portraying both sides, and for its passion in Brand's outrage.

Yes, Powell exclaims "Jinkies!" at one point so we know where Velma got that expression. Powell contributes a delightful coloratura voice to the goings on, whose musical numbers attempt to please a great range of interests: jazz, opera, and Latin. Melchior impresses with a sly sense of humor and funny little bits in his character's floundering to understand all the plot points of 1. Powell trying to get him to listen to her sing and 2. Koshetz's diva upstaging of him and honestly, his of her. She's unknown to me and I liked her polished voice. Melchior commands when he sings, though, and his kind offer to allow Powell to hear him rehearse and "learn breath control" underscores the artistic connection between the two. Melchior's finale dance with Powell is joyous and his air lift of her at the very end speaks of his delight at discovering her excellent talent.

The setting is magnificent and since nearly all action is aboard the ship, we haven't any jarring disembarking to follow their adventures in Rio.

Brent hits it off as Authority Figure, both father and ship's captain, a good role in his maturity at age 45 or so. His attraction to lovely Gifford was pleasantly handled, again in a mature way as he allows her to decide for herself with only a /little/ push from him whom she wishes to marry. In a pure example of TVTropes' "Pair The Spares", Koschetz winds up with Ship's Officer and Powell embraces Breen. The exception is Derr, whose lonely voyage got even lonelier with the ending of his romance. Let's hope the music of Cugat, Powell, and Melchior revived his spirit.

Negative points were 1. the Pied Pipers, excellent in harmony as always but I did not care for their numbers' arrangements and 2. Powell's rendition of Peanut Vendor Song because I prefer Lupe Velez's. All in all, music pulls the viewer into a glamorous, relaxing voyage at sea in lovely Technicolor. Powell is awfully cute.

Enjoyably risqué and loaded with décor, this movie sails through an interesting plot filled with French bedroom farce material. Reginald Owen is spoiled and oddly prescient about his place in history, as "next to last" King of France. He's needing his grandson to step up his game from repairing gadgets to repairing the dynasty and Grandson needs great boosting in the ego department. Owen does not. He's smitten with Du Barry, whose initial scene features a winsome foot most of all, followed by a smirk from Del Rio as she lounges after entertaining her lover while he dresses after their encounter. She's on the way up and as she uses all her wiles on both her lover, who passes her along to his king, and the king, she comes across as suitably fiery.

There are cat fights among the women, outrageous demands for a snowfall in summer, and court intrigue involving Du Barry's enemy, Verree Teasdale, superb as is Owen. Jory I couldn't believe as a romance of Du Barry's, although he sounded patriotic enough wanting his country not to go to war for specious reasons. Del Rio is lovely to look at in sweeping gowns over panniers, and her gauzy near nude scene is memorable. What I took away is numerous chuckles over the double entendres, admiration for Owen's performance as ribald Louis, and appreciation for the wedding night scene of young Louis and Marie Antoinette, couched as it was in teen innocence.

As a sleazy and stupid villain, Cortez doubtless resembles many crooks in real life because he is all flash and not a solid, respectable success like Oland. Cortez does his best to do 'deals' but comes a cropper, losing his yacht, his woman and finally his life. That part was hard not to root for, since he has no qualms about stranding his love despite "caring for her more than any other woman he's known." Hooboy, and then he plans a "future" with her after she has weathered an awful life due to his neglect. The machinations are LOL worthy as he spills his guts to Francis, expecting her approval, and the fine acting Francis displays as she listens to this foofaraw make me respect her skills more than ever. The stupidity part comes in with his blithe assurance of her "love."

The setting particularly appealed because the film's river sequences were filmed about fifty miles from my current residence. The right hot tropic ambiance, Asian extras milling in the background, and the British presence in Burma added to verisimilitude of the work and Curtiz directs his camera well, traveling amid the lobby of Oland's establishment to establish a high class feel, which is what Oland wanted to convey. His backstory, along with Ottiano's, is fuel for much speculation.

Speaking of Ottiano, her pragmatic encouragement of Francis to use all the talents Mother Nature gave her to make the best of things sure sounded like she's been in Francis' shoes, too. Add to this a friend like Talbot, who to his credit managed to pull himself together to act as an altruistic doctor, and Francis, whether she dies of black fever or not as she heads upriver with Talbot, and you have a formula for two damaged people acting nobly. It was a good Hollywood ending, very satisfying. If Francis and/or Talbot give their lives in efforts to make some good of their lives, isn't that the Hays Code spirit?

Boston Blackie may have been formulaic, but since the formula is a good one, why quibble? We can all root for the unjustly accused or even unjustly suspected and our man gets that distinction each and every time. The debut in sound flm stands out as a well made and fast moving film, moving from ocean liner to train boxcar to amusement park with gusto. Blackie's been accused this time of both theft and murder so naturally he enlists the aid of a woman who seems trusting from the getgo of his motives and ultimate innocence. Would that everyone could have such a friend! The plot points of Morse code secret communications, blinking lights signalling to ships at sea and Faraday's ever present frenemy status served to make this a fine entry in the series. The emphasis on spies made me edgy in realizing that America was not yet in the war, but certainly taking notice via Hollywood.

I have a glimmer what Rochelle Hudson's smile meant at close of film: just friendship, that's all, a friend who came into her life whom she helped because she believed in him and his cause of Truth, and that was all that was ever going to come of it and that's okay. There are folks like that in real life, too.

Morris' talent carries the whole series, fully enabled by Lane and crew; I admit to being fond of George E. Stone, who is waiting in the wings to take over the part of the Runt.

What a fun romp through internet town, and it's informative about how the internet fits together overall, too, The ghost of internet past featuring Geocities was a real hoot and I enjoyed this movie a lot. The story turned sweet when Vanellope decided to pursue her dreams in a kind fashion, leaving Ralph to accept the fact that relationships change. He's had Vanellope as BFF for six years, although I didn't quite catch that in viewing that it had been that long. The remarkable wealth of references made me dizzy in a happy way, the animation astounded, and the Disney princesses, er, ruled. They were worth the price of admission alone; to get them all interacting must have been daunting in both "pajama party" and "action girl" scenes. All in all, seeing Stan Lee, storm troopers, and Tron made the film a whole lot of fun.

Dieterle uses noirish shadows and unusual camera angles to tell the story of a charming thief, Powell, who operates his gang with a high degree of camaraderie and they seem loyal, as much as thieves can be, anyway. He keeps watch on a jewelry store keeping a late appointment so the other customers vacate, he urbanely robs the high class customers, the shop, and gets away with it. Francis looks forward to being the toast of her "set" when she tells of her experience, but isn't prepared to succumb to Powell's appeal. He's not prepared for her beauty and insouciance, either.

The plot surprised me with a fair amount of physical action near the climax, Powell climbing roofs and ladders and eluding the police neatly. The jewels themselves could be considered characters, because seeing them in vault after vault made this viewer drool over the undoubtedly paste diamonds, rubies and emeralds, too! No wonder Francis collects them and mourns when it seems she might lose them to Powell's greedy fingers.

Francis' scene in her bath is delightful as she entertains her friend all the while enjoying the services of her masseuse and maid's toweling her off and later arranging her hair. Francis' face lights up at times when she's blithe and it falls when she delivers her honest unflattering appraisal of her own character in that inimitable voice. So all in all, a 9/10 stars for a "heist" film, Powell's loping walk and raised brow and Francis' cheery acceptance of her character flaws. It's likely Kolker turned a blind eye to her flings, as long as she decorates his arm at social occasions. She is truly eye candy in a fur trimmed neckline gown that almost does a nip slip several times during the last 1/3 of the film. That's pre-code for you, titillating to the max.

So This Is Harris, a wildly entertaining short, is also directed by Sandrich and he knocks out another cheery, flippant story in Melody Cruise with Harris as lothario; personally, I think Harris is cute enough and seems to have panache enough to be considered a playboy. He has one song to sing and his camaraderie with Ruggles is believable. Ruggles and Mack made the movie for me because they played their roles with conviction, with Harris a happy boy running away from marriage to anyone. Ruggles is married and wants more than Mrs. Ruggles, whose wise and knowing look at the denouement shows she knows the content of the incriminating letter even before she reads it aloud to her husband.

Mack portrayed a down to earth girl slowly reeled in by Harris in fits and starts, and I liked her here as much as in Son of Kong. The party girls, one of whom is Shirley Chambers who was delightful in The Half-Naked Truth, played with their dialogue and fit the parts well. Chick Chandler as a steward was perky and a fine physical comic; he resembles William Haines more than somewhat and had me fooled for a while! All in all, if you watch Melody Cruise for the fun story, interesting visual wipes and for Mack, you'll be entertained. I give this 7 stars for the wipes, Harris who played in few films so it was fun to see him here since I mainly know him from radio, and for Mack, very cute personality with a calmer center than many performers.

The play within a play premise is absolutely goofy and entertaining. It's as if the producers knew how cornball the Old Plantation scenario is yet it pleased audiences all the same. Joe E. Brown and Louise Fazenda entertain because they are in command of their roles, as does Sam Hardy. Compson sparkles in her role as the ethereally appearing and disappearing female draped in gauze, who entrances Arthur Lake in the play within a play - she's quite good and in nice voice. I enjoyed this for the realistic looking backstage machinations of the machinery and props, the bickering between the players, all of whom have some sort of offstage problems, and for Ethel Waters' performance. The movie showcases just how self-aware performers are of their limited appeal, and play up each "specialty" talent, they own whether it's eccentric dancing or an outrageous laugh, because that's how the make their do-re-mi. 5 stars may be generous; 4 seemed too pinched.

... and not for much else! This strange offering looks to have been costly, with many lengthy songs, a fine Hawaiian band, and some visual effects, too. The story involves rich folks turned poor but not giving up because they become service workers. A sight gag of Dad searching for his keys while standing next to an expensive car, only to pan out to reveal he's parked his and his wife's and daughter's bicycles in a city parking lot, is funny enough. The plot involves these formerly rich going on a South Seas cruise on the eponymous yacht with some friends in the same circumstances; each relationship is reversed, because the new rich are their former employees. On board, newly rich Tom Kennedy (poetry spouting Gahagan in the Torchy Blane series) cavorts with his "niece," double entendre intended, and Ned Sparks "gets the girl" in the climax, surely a rarity in all his appearances.

Once on a tropic isle that Captain Sparks runs them aground on, everyone's wardrobe, rich and poor alike, gets nearly shredded or stolen by the natives going through luggage and we see more flabby middle aged actors, although they are mixed in with nubile "nieces". The natives have machine guns and a chilling moment arrives when the passengers stage a riot because they've been forced to work, only to have machine guns pointed down at them from a stockade. I felt their panic and thus for one moment the movie moved me, so to speak.

The leads both named Sidney absolutely stank and I couldn't believe anything they said or did. It was just weird, because I expected to sympathize a little with them or at least be entertained by them. The mad queen Boland failed to amuse, too. The three stars are for Kennedy and the Hawaiian band.

I looked forward to seeing this for Brown, McHugh, and Maxwell from previous films, with Whiting, Claire and Lee a mystery. The setting made more of an impression at day's end. Wade Botteler seems born to play a game warden in this farce as he determines to get his man via an outrageous pair of checked trousers from Brown.

Brown generally entertains me in a mild way; this film's antics regarding him starts out a bit lame and seesaws throughout. What stands out is Brown's and Lee's dance number about knees because the chorus boys and girls gave energy, too, and the whole shebang delighted. That was the peak of the singing and dancing; the racing boats proved nifty to look at and a joy to behold in long shots. The comedy re the race, the weak plot revolving around Whiting's taking a bribe, and the fishing story lacked interest.

What interested was the setting! Gorgeous Spanish Colonial Lake Norconian Resort in its heyday, the dance pavilion, the steps leading into the building, the interiors ... yes, what a time the actors must have had filming here and presumably staying here. For a 1930 film, it had plenty of exteriors. I understand the stage play naturally couldn't have shown these, so this is a good example of how movies give life to a play. Whiting and Claire sang nicely and played nicely together; I thought she was cute. Lee suited Brown, who disappointed. I'm glad I watched it and doubt I'll rewatch. 5 stars because of the delightful setting.

When Ned Sparks asked, "Where are you from?" it seemed Compson would answer "Ruritania" but no, it was Aregon. I put that bit aside to enjoy a fun tale of show business that surprised me by showing the finagling necessary to procuring recognition of one's talent. Compson uses all her wiles to push her quartet of "boys" into the limelight and displays a little bit of hubris herself when everything works out her way. She shows modesty in the beginning but begins to strut, not obnoxiously, but strut when she procures an even bigger gig for them and her.

The Twenties certainly stand out as the setting, complete with fringe and shortie hemlines and jazz. Jack Oakie takes the prize as the most watchable of the quartet when he sings, plays a musical instrument, and dances in the act. Harron again impressed me as an actor when he runs the gamut of emotions from A to Q as jealousy takes over his nature. That was just part of the script, which may have been predictable although the cast puts it over as well as possible. The jazz number "Lovable and Sweet" may be the most bouncy of tunes because its little business of the quartet looking over their shoulders at their audience at the song's end is repeated throughout the film. That bit of business underscored how repetitious show business really is, to me, because once you have a good thing, you stick with it. The night clubs or supper clubs seemed real.

I enjoyed the camera movement through the crowd at the revue number and in particular, Compson with her almost-Betty Booplike voice as she warbled and played her violin. That was a sweetly yearning song she specialized in to charm the Prince. By the way, I wondered if Ivan Lebedeff ever played a good guy, and he did in this film.

Familiar with Compson only through Docks of New York, I thought it was a treat to see her the focus of a woman just trying to make her way in the world. Unlike in DONY, she makes the best of a downbeat job rather than suiciding: for a good amount of money, win the out of control son of her benefactor away from his bad girlfriend and tell Sonny Boy the ruse, eventually. Naturally, he has fallen for her cheery sisterly comfort/guidance and as a matter of fact, so has Dad. The well-worn tropes abound here and each satisfies because she's honest with everyone around her and has a nifty speech about herself and her morals at the end.

Darrow plays passionate well and I could believe he merely needed a tighter rein than he was given by Dad growing up; the Mom must have faded from the picture early and that's why Dad thought of his son as more than his offspring, more like a friend? The settings are okay in the vast halls of the rich Dad and the high toned apartment of Son and later, Compson. I liked Livingston, too, because she devoured her role as someone on the make who answered to her john/boyfriend, Ivan Lebedeff, the guy with the threatening knife. Did Lebedeff ever play nice guys in movies?

The creakiness depends on London nearly always being foggy, rich Dad being nearly virginal when he walks in accidentally on a models' dressing room, and the maid played by Pollard leering when she spies the occupants of the apartment building playing musical bedrooms.

And I'm glad I did! Wini Shaw's throbbing, sobbing voice either evokes sadness or makes one get up and dance around the room. As for her acting, it seemed adequate; Talbot's and Tobin's acting was more polished, naturally. The Berkeley-esque piece of girls dancing in a glass of champagne was just right for the movie and the song "Playboy of Paree" was so so. The song I really liked was "Let It Be Me," with Phil Regan and Shaw partnering nicely.

Now for the unexpected juicy bits: Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Treen, and Ward Bond were great fun to spot in uncredited roles, but Gordon Elliott (Wild Bill) portrayed Shaw's love interest in the Playboy of Paree number. Yes, Elliott looks good in a tux and responds to Shaw in the usual way of such things, by reacting to her lyrics with movements designed to leave 95 percent of the attention on her. Way to go, Bill.

In conclusion, the ending took a roundabout way for Shaw to reach equanimity in her life: she befriends her love's wife, takes it on the chin in unrequited love, and learns a lesson about being happy with what she's got. That's not a bad lesson for a B movie.

Powell operates as shady as he'll get and since he's a conniver on the order of Lee Tracy in "Half-Naked Truth", I can't help but like him. He's hustling to survive in Depression America and my goodness, do the rich have it coming to them to be defrauded? This film says yes.

Davis looks fine in her new 'do and I can believe she's a designer of clothing. What's harder to take is her love for Powell because it springs from nowhere, naturally a common feature in a short running time. Maybe she wanted to compare "funny walks" with him, because her hip sashay stride and his lope are certainly distinctive!

The human harp number and in particular, the use of ostrich feathers, stood out for me by being just the sort of dizzy devices to hang a plot on: Hugh Herbert had his work cut out for him selling those plumes. This could have been a commentary on how plumes decorated fashions in the teens and '20s but by 1930s were out of fashion?

What made me LOL was McHugh and his cheery pursuit of ladies and the way he was flummoxed by one darn thing after another spoiling his rendezvous with a willing girl. His distinctive laugh over the French postcards was better, I guess, than him leering and panting. He did well for comic relief in a larger part than usual. I read in Pat O'Brien's autobiography that O'Brien and McHugh would get together in the 40's and 50s to wonder why they received fewer and fewer offers of film work, well this is why. Delightful as they are in the 30's, they seemed to be in hundreds of films courtesy Warners and folks just got tired of them.

In conclusion, Powell makes the movie watchable.

After reading comics for over 40 years, it seemed a good choice for a Wonder Woman film because of the tired WWII origin story. Not to say I thought it was tired when first reading it at age 11! But it is tired to me now, and this movie's setting intrigued. So for what it's worth, the setting ruled and the story came second.

The story? Well, it plays around with my loved Greek mythology, but so did Disney in "Hercules". I expected that Ares and Hippolyta got together in some fashion to create Diana, whether by crafting her in ceramics class or the normal way; I didn't expect Zeus to have a hand in it. The whole gods dying thing was interesting, even if it did rub the wrong way. It's easier to think that Norse gods can die, but Greek gods? Nah. I don't know what to make of Diana being a god herself.

The "I believe in love" sentiment is hard to argue with as a theme. Chris Pine's presence certainly added a human being's perspective of "we're not all bad, we're not all good." That gave Diana plenty to chew on and the movie showed her doing just that as she observed first hand how humans are.

I liked Gadot in the role because she was convincing in her battle moves and in her naiveté. She has learned about many things as a scholar does, from books and not real life. She has learned how to fight melee fashion and not from planes delivering bombs, or sniping with a Garand, or designing a new poison gas. The best things about her style were her use of her bracelets in the "Bullets and Bracelets" game of comic fame, and her deployment of her lasso. Many of the other athletic moves I've become jaded over after watching "Captain America" and "Aquaman." The bracelets and lasso are unique.

Neat things to take away: "Gal" could be short for "Galatea," another carved creation. Also, seeing George Perez and Len Wein acknowledged in the credits rocked. Alsoalso, Paradise Island's conception fulfilled my hopes.

I've just gotten home from the theater and was wowed by the movie. The actors, except Dafoe and Lundgren, are new to me, so they had the appeal of not comparing them to other roles. Flash Gordon was the first thing to mind after seeing the Fishermen, Trench, familiar two-legged Atlanteans, and so forth in the matter of undersea races - all it needed was the Hawkmen.

I just loved it and didn't expect it to be a Power Couple movie at all, but then I stopped reading comics about four years back so maybe the latest comics do more with Mera? Anyway, Momoa, in addition to being smoking hot, did okay as Aquaman. He rushed his lines a little once or twice, yet held up in the dramatic and romantic moments. The effects couldn't have been better, either, seamlessly sliding from land to water. Atlantis was perfectly composed. Since Aquaman became my first superhero love in the Silver Age, not Superman or Batman or any other 'man,' this was a happy 2 hours and 23 minutes. Recognizing Temuera Morrison was the icing on the cake. The aquarium scene with young Arthur hailed back to a favorite panel from a long ago comic, with Art's hand the focus of multiple fish species' attention. Aquaman's ending costume couldn't have been better.

Speaking of ending, upon reading credits to Nick Cardy and Mort Weisinger, my little ol' fan's heart beat faster.

... in the credits, and what followed was fun enough for a rating of 7/10. Mercer's talents shine in the "Oh What A Horse Was Charley (Until He Got A Charley Horse)" number with Allen Jenkins (!) warbling, along with Powell and others, about a horse. This number made me LOL and when the four singers got into the spirit and pranced around the piano, it was grand fun.

Powell may be tired of this sort of role and looking to get out, yet he performed like a trouper as the go-getter who only wants his business to do better. He sure isn't getting any help from his stick in the mud boss or the owner of the store, who are content to let their inventory stay in the store until it rots. Powell gets the idea of using an endorsement from a famous horseman, and even better, the horseman resides in Australia and so is ripe for impersonation. Down goes non-horseman Powell to Horse Country to impersonate an Australian and tout his store's goods. This succeeds about as well as you think it would.

Louis Armstrong plays "Jeepers Creepers" such a fun and silly song, and he also leads the orchestra in a number based on nursery rhymes. Even though the song isn't much, seeing Armstrong as a younger man really was interesting because I recall him mainly from the 60s TV performances. There were topical references in the film to world events and some clever dialogue (nervous Powell says "I thought you said coffin" when Catlett says "I ordered coffee" as their room's buzzer sounds), and other favorite performers abounded: Anita Louise for being pretty and sweet when she wanted so badly for her colors to win, Allen Jenkins who could be threatening as well as comical, Thurston Hall as a blustering wretch who cheated on Minna Gombell before she threatened to pull the plug on the monies she handed out to him for his "hunting expeditions." The expeditions involved younger women as "game."

I recommend this film as filled with antics revolving around horses and although I've not ridden in a few decades, vicarious thrills are to be gained by watching the riding footage.

Torchy gathers information by illegal listening devices and by theft on a dirty political spin doctor (literally, he's an MD) because of her strong belief that he's the evil power behind the throne of the corrupt mayor of her town. She's right, of course, and by the end of the film everyone admires her; even her fellow citizens vote her into office as mayor. Along the way, she's in need of rescuing from a drugged fugue by her fiance, Steve, whose patience with her frays around the edges at times, but never flags.

Miljan plays a slimy, arrogant villainous doctor to perfection as he appeals to the police to get back the little red book containing incriminating names and places of his deals that Torchy stole. He dances well with the police department, who realize that their jobs hinge upon his good graces, yet the police want justice done, too. He gets lots of screen time and he's worthwhile to watch. The fight scenes are the sort of action that Warners handled best, with villains and heroes never losing their fedoras because otherwise viewers could see the stuntmen's faces!

I took off three stars realizing that I'm a biased fan of the series, and also because it was difficult to picture Irving Bacon in a romance with a woman whose protective brother wrote a threatening letter to Irving when Irving proved a cad in his relationship. This means that the brother was a suspect in Irving's murder when police discovered the letter, thus providing a subplot that proved particularly hard to swallow. If another reviewer can explain this plotpoint better, great!

At the end of the story, Steve hustles Torchy off to get a marriage license and they'd better act fast before another newsworthy event needs reporting/investigating. The interrupted wedding supplied an element in several B movie series: Miss Withers (Edna May Oliver and James Gleason), the Saint (George Sanders and his sweety) and now for Torchy and Steve. Like the domestic antics of Dagwood and Blondie in the B's and Nick and Nora in the A's, changing the dynamic of Torchy and Steve to a domestic sort of series would have been interesting and a little bit fun.

Asks Armstrong of Barnett, who is his stooge, not that Armstrong is much higher on the social ladder. This is among a few zingers that the script provides, along with Farrell and Blondell playing manicurists who troll for sweethearts who will lift them out of drudgery. Farrell is more the calculating type, while Blondell has fallen, at least halfway, for Armstrong's semi-lawless self. The movie's costumes are among the prettiest from the era and the direction has a few surprises. For example following Armstrong through a crowded hotel lobby to where his sweety works; the camera continues to show Blondell working back to back with Farrell as they polish the appearance of their customers, while showing Armstrong looking on through a plate glass divider.

This is fun to watch, because the two blondes calculate themselves into and out of financial troubles with startling aplomb. The plot itself guarantees a viewer to pay strict attention to the ways in which the two ladies struggle to keep above water in Depression America. Two aldermen cheerfully bankroll their trip to Paris, where the story comes a cropper with unpleasant cheating wives, conniving PIs, and lots of crowd scenes to catch Herbert playing around in order to secure Wifey's divorce proceedings. That part wasn't quite as fun; much better was the first half of the movie's disguise of the two jolly ladies as glum Girl Scout types on way to /their/ convention.

All in all, Armstrong, Farrell, and Blondell amuse with Herbert, not so much. The denouement pairing off the two girls was unexpected.